


The Beginning Is Beautiful

by morvamp



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28029543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morvamp/pseuds/morvamp
Summary: Luke finds Julie after she leaves the studio. Quick post finale O/S.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 14
Kudos: 198





	The Beginning Is Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> I started this show as an easy guilty pleasure watch only to finish it with a new ship that has one has me in a serious chokehold. I don’t know how I got here… but I’m processing the way I know best… with words.

If elation was a color it’d resemble the white of the audience’s teeth as they screamed their applause. The pearl of her bandmates glistening eyes as their arms folded around her tonight in the studio. The ivory of the beams that had radiated from them when they’d fully manifested.

Elation – a marvelous, enchanting color that seemed to brighten everything in Julie’s path as she left her band members in the studio and stumbled up the stairs toward the side gate of the house. They’d thrown themselves across the couches when she’d left them, chatter of what lingered in their future – for their music and their souls.

Julie’s elation, however, was linked to one band member in particular. And for once it had nothing to do with music.

Yes, the band was still together and they hadn’t crossed over. But, more so, she’d touched them. Warm skin, soft hair, electrical sparks.

That last one transpired in her mind and not literally, of course, same as _Perfect Harmony_ , but she couldn’t shake the very real sensation of Luke’s cheeks resting beneath her palms, or the intensity in his big, brown, very undead eyes as they mapped the arches of her face.

Wonder had trickled through his expression first. Realization had come seconds later, the same time it’d struck her.

She could touch Luke. Luke could touch her. And not just in the emotionally confusing way she’d become accustomed to. Her crush wasn’t merely a forlorn possibility anymore.

As his fingertips had slipped from her face to find her own, cupping them against his heart, she’d swallowed down her logic and latched onto hope. They’d returned from the other side and now they’d materialized. Who was to say they couldn’t strengthen further into something more than phantoms?

He'd even mimicked her own thoughts when he’d turned around to the other guys and said, “I feel stronger.”

_Luke._

The ghost she somehow aided strength to.

_Luke._

The ghost she couldn’t deny she had feelings for.

_Luke._

The ghost who’d whispered a confession earlier that night.

_Luke._

The ghost who shocked the heck out of her when he poofed mere inches from her face.

She jumped back, nearly tripping down a step.

“Shoot,” he said. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

She shook her head and smiled, despite being caught in a daydream. “You’d think by now I’d get used to you popping up wherever you please.”

He held up his index finger. “I like to think I’ve gotten better at boundaries.”

She thought of the steps he’d taken on stage at The Orpheum while they sang. The way he’d crowded her space, like each step closer was still further from her than he’d like.

_She knew the feeling well._

Crossing her arms, she teased, “You still have a few lessons to learn.”

“And, thankfully, time seems to be on our side for me to improve as a student.”

“Yes, it does.” She couldn’t deny her relief because, if she was being honest, she wasn’t ready to let any of them go. Especially not him.

Goodbyes had taken too much from them already.

Silence fell between them. Chirping crickets and the hum of wind became their background music as Julie waited on him to explain his sudden appearance. Expectations were dangerous, but she let hers soar. If only momentarily.

Because he was out here, alone. What couldn’t he have said to her in front of Alex and Reggie?

Luke opened his mouth, only to slam it back shut. Glancing at the night sky, he shivered, as if the typical 74 degrees of California wasn’t as familiar to him as it was her. Then again, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe he couldn’t feel anything physical before the moment she hugged him in the studio.

Finally, his cheeks morphed into a smile and he bounced on his feet, fueled with a sudden energy. “Can you believe what just happened in there?”

No, she couldn’t. Her mind was still struggling to form coherent thoughts other than the ones regarding the feel of his skin against hers. But he probably wasn’t focusing on that when he’d just survived fading into oblivion.

“You mean when I brought you back to life?” She leaned forward, a mischievous grin in place. “Again.”

“Yeah, I should probably figure out a way to start paying you back since something tells me it won’t be the last time.” Winking, he added, “If you haven’t noticed, me and the guys don’t always make the best choices.”

Thoughts of mutual resurrection came to mind, but he had to know that. The shell of a girl she’d been before his appearance was colorless in comparison to who she’d become. 

“Luke, you know it’s not one-sided, right?”

But he diverted, lost in his own moment. “Hey, I wonder if other people can see us now when we’re not playing. Or if we can do any of the tricks Willie can.” He laughed, his actions animated as he continued bouncing around. “Reggie would flip if we got ghost powers.”

“We’ll have to figure it out tomorrow. Maybe take a trip downtown and see what happens.”

She considered that possibility and what it meant for the band moving forward. Furthermore, what it meant for the guys. Other than Reggie’s glee over messing with people, they’d gain independence if other people could see them. A sense of being.

Her elation started to fizzle.

That independence meant less of a reliance on her. Sure, they’d still have the band and musical connection, but they’d also be able to create new relationships. Which meant fewer afternoons crafting magic through their lyrics, fewer conversations where fragments of their past were revealed, fewer opportunities for Luke to reach over and take advantage of this newfound power of touch.

She masked her disappointment behind a hopeful facade. “You might be able to touch other people too.”

He stilled at that and quirked his mouth. Awed curiosity swirled in his eyes, and something about the way he looked at her turned her insides to goo.

“Yeah, that was a pretty significant development tonight.”

She swallowed, hard, at the distinctly softer tone of his voice.

He reached forward, slowly, and took her hand with his left, the same way he’d tried pointlessly in the past. This time, the connection held. He appeared mesmerized as he interlocked their fingers and raised them to trace the back of her hand with the fingertips of his right.

It sent a returning rush of elation down her spin, vanquishing her disappointment. Because when he gazed at her with that same passion he only possessed when scratching down lyrics, she was certain he felt the same fervor he evoked from her.

Possibilities swirled through her head. Of her legs draped across his on the couch, a notebook in her lap, him stealing her pen to jot an adjective in the margin. Of her head nuzzled against his shoulder while their spark spilled onto a page. Of his smile tracing the arch of her neck as her fingers flowed over piano keys.

These illusions had her asking, “Did you mean what you said to me after the performance?”

He glanced up, dropping her hand in the process. “I’ve said a lot of things after our performances. You’re gonna have to clarify for me.”

She noticed his shoulder stiffen as he diverted his attention to a shrub on his right. He flicked his thumbs together in the same space he’d just held her hand, but unlike the previous, this motion was frantic. 

He was nervous. Because he knew exactly what line she was referring to. Parting words spoken softly for her and only her before they’d taken their bow and the boys supposedly transitioned to the other side.

**Death was worth it to entwine myself with you.**

It’d sounded like a lyric, straight from his incredibly talented mind. If he’d sung it while strumming the chords on his guitar in an acoustic set, she could envision the slew of girls fawning at his feet.

Because, in her brazen state, she was nearly doing it herself and it was clearly a step he wasn’t ready to take. Or didn’t want to take at all. Maybe she’d interpreted him wrong. Maybe she’d interpreted _everything_ wrong.

_Why did she have to be so inexperienced at this?_

Heat flooded her cheeks as she swatted an imaginary mosquito from the air. “Never mind. Just ignore that question, okay? It’s been a long, crazy night.”

Something she recognized as regret eclipsed his features, dimming the glow she’d evoked from him mere minutes before in the studio, but embarrassment had her rushing past him. Fast enough that it didn’t register she’d walked through him until her hand gripped the gate handle.

She turned, ready to question what just happened when he said, “Julie, wait.”

Glancing up, she noticed his brows dipped, his mouth positioned in a scowl. “I mean… I’m dead and you’re….” 

“Not,” she answered faintly. It would have been pointless arguing what he’d just proven.

He sighed, releasing the pinch on his features. “But I messed up by not telling my mom how I felt before it was too late, and even if I should, I won’t do it with you. It’s why I came out here before I talked myself out of it.” He swallowed, reaching for her wrist. “I’m not good at this if I’m not writing it down, but, yeah, I meant it. I’d go to that streetcar and eat that hot dog again knowing my fate if it still brought me to you.” He cleared his throat, “And not just because of the music.”

His grip was secure. Heat ebbed beneath the edge of her sweater, where his skin met hers. Her mind went hazy. 

He chuckled and retracted his hand to scratch the back of his neck. “But it was a stupid thought, right? I’m a ghost or whatever, and you’re a lifer. How is that supposed to work?”

Maybe it was the combination of his words and the longing in his eyes, or maybe it was the fact that he’d taken her lingering loneliness after her mother’s death and turned it into something beautiful- something potentially bigger.

But, somehow, she knew it could. They could figure it out.

Because Luke felt more alive to her now (and these past few weeks) than most people actually breathing.

She opened her mouth, but he shook his head. “So we’ll just keep it an interesting little relationship and make music that’ll blow the socks off everyone who listens and leave it at that.” He shrugged. “It’s whatever. That Nick guy is probably a better option for…”

As he fumbled through his confession, so unlike the confident musician she was familiar with and every bit the 17 year old he was, Julie stopped second-guessing her inexperience or their unconventional situation. He wanted this, same as her, and frankly, she was tired of pretending every instance with him didn’t set her insides on fire.

She took the opening and started to create – the same way she always did when they were together. But this time, it wasn’t a harmony or a verse or a well-strung melody.

It was a moment.

Latching onto the confidence he’d reignited within her, she leaned forward, close enough to feel his unnecessary intake of breath. “You’re the _only_ option.”

Then she pressed her lips against his, silencing his ridiculous words about logic and other boys and their ability to outshine him in any way.

She didn’t think about her first kiss being with a ghost or him crossing over or potential future goodbyes. She just felt magic.

His hands lifted to her cheeks, clinging as if she was his saving grace. Maybe she was, and maybe he was hers. But those were lyrics still left unwritten. Ones they’d surely write together.

As for this moment, it concluded with a soft parting of lips, Luke’s forehead resting against her own, a pair of matching smiles… and a feeling unrivaled by any song.


End file.
